This is wonderful Spanish song to teach or review colors. The song is called Todas las cosas tienen su color and it is by Siempre así y los Caños. The beginning of the song relates colors to objects, reinforcing the color word and the words for the different items. The second part of the song is a list of things, but the song does not mention their color. This list lends itself to lots of different activities. Kids can color pictures they are given, classify the objects by color or draw their own pictures.

This video has great pictures and also has the lyrics on the screen. I have included the lyrics below, too. This is another video of the Spanish song about colors with pictures than children have drawn.

You can download Todas las cosas tienen su color from Amazon.

Spanish song lyrics

Blanca la nieve, blanca la sal,
Azul el cielo, azul el mar,
Verde los campos, amarillo el sol,
Todas las cosas tienen su color.

Gris la nube cuando va a llover,
Naranja el cielo al atardecer,
Roja la amapola, negro el carbón,
Todas las cosas tienen su color.

Una pera, una manzana, un melocotón,
un canario, una sardina, una vaca, un león,
una radio, una nevera, un televisor,
Todas las cosas tienen su color.

Un arbusto, una planta, una hierba, una flor,
una bici, una moto, un coche, un camión,
una flauta, una guitarra, un acordeón,
Todas las cosas tienen su color.

You may also be interested in Online activity teaches Spanish pronunciation and colores 1

Caballito blanco (Little White Horse) is one of the first songs my children learned in Spanish. We happen to have a white horse, so my kids loved it. Children all over the Spanish-speaking world sing this traditional song. I have also seen Caballito blanco identified as a jump rope rhyme, but my family learned the song and that is how I have used it in teaching Spanish to children.

There are several versions of Caballito blanco. The longest version has three distinct parts. The first asks the white horse to take the singer home, the second is about three sheep, and the third part tells Juana to get up and light a candle to investigate a noise. Often, children learn only the first two, and many recordings are done with just those two parts. I use a version with just the first two parts for teaching.

I like to sing this song with children learning Spanish for several reasons. First, it has very concrete, common vocabulary. It also has several verb forms that children learn right away: tengo (I have), tienes (you have), da (gives). Finally, the clear rhyme scheme reinforces the correct prononciation of the Spanish vowels.

You will find the lyrics for all three parts below. I have included common variations in parenthesis and a translation.

Caballito blanco – Spanish song – listen online

You can listen to several different versions of this song online.

Spanish song – Caballito Blanco. This is the longest version and it has the words on the screen.
Spanish song - Caballito Blanco. This is another version with all three parts.
Spanish song – Caballito Blanco. This video uses the first two parts of the song. I like the photographs of horses and sheep! The video supports the words to the song well.

Caballito blanco – Spanish song lyrics

Caballito blanco,
llévame de aquí, (sácame de aquí,)
llévame a mi pueblo
donde yo nací.

Tengo, tengo, tengo,
tú no tienes nada,
tengo tres ovejas
en una cabaña. (en una manada.)

Una me da leche,
otra me da lana,
y otra, mantequilla
para la semana.

Levántate Juana
y prende la vela (a prender la vela)
para ver quien anda
por la cabecera.
Son los angelitos
que andan de carrera
despertando al niño
para ir a la escuela.

Caballito blanco – Spanish song translation

Little white horse,
Take me away.
Take me to the town,
Where I was born.

I have, I have, I have,
You have nothing.
I have three sheep,
In a cabin. (herd)

One gives me milk,
Another gives me wool,
And another, butter,
for the week.

Get up Juana
and light the candle (to light the candle)
to see who is walking
on the headboard.

It is the little angels,
hurrying along,
waking the child
to go to school.

Caballito blanco – Spanish song downloads from Amazon

There are many versions of this song available to download on Amazon and iTunes. If I am using a song with children learning Spanish, I look for a version that is clear and not too fast.

Here are a few versions of Caballito blanco that work well with Spanish language learners:

Spanish song Caballito blanco – José Luis Orozco. This is the slowest and clearest version of this song that you will find. It is wonderful for beginning learners and little children. I love the sound of the horses hooves!

Spanish song Caballito blanco – Jorge Lan. This is from the CD Rondas infantiles 3. It is a little faster than the version by José Luis Orozco and it has a slightly different tune that the most traditional version.

Spanish song Caballito blanco – This is a version from the CD Canciones infantiles y cuentos. Again, it is a little faster. It has the traditional tune.

You may also be interested in this traditional song for children: Spanish songs for children – Debajo de un botón
 
 
 
 

I want to thank Spanish Playground reader Kelli for sharing this great resource! These video Spanish lessons are offered free online on Instant Replay, part of the South Carolina Educational Portal that offers on-demand, curriculum-based streaming video from South Carolina ETV (Educational Television) and the S.C. Department of Education/ITV. These lessons are an introduction to Spanish for young learners. They were designed for elementary schools that do not have a language teacher. There are six series, each with 10 video lessons:

1. First Step Español
2. First Step Español Again
3. Next Step Español
4. Next Step Español Again
5. Another Step Español
6. Another Step Español Again

Each video lesson is about 15 minutes long. The “again” series are follow-up lessons that use the same themes as the original lessons. The focus of the videos is exposure to the spoken language, so almost all of the lesson is in Spanish.

Use this link to reach the list of series – Spanish video. Click on the series to reach the ten video lessons.

There are lesson plans available as pdfs for the First Step Español and Next Step Español series. These lessons were developed to be used by classroom teachers who have little or no knowledge of the language. The plans have vocabulary, cultural information, follow-up activities and supplemental activities.
You can access the lesson plans at these links:
First Step Español
Next Step Español

A link to the pdf is also available under the video, but in the very first lesson (Lesson 1 of First Step Español) the German lesson plan is attached by mistake. You can reach the lesson plan for that lesson using the link above.

You may also be interested in:
Free Spanish Videos to use with kids

This one-minute Spanish video is good listening and language practice for children. You can just watch together, or you can do activities like the ones that follow the video to help children understand more. You will find a transcript and a translation below the video.

This public service announcement was made in Uruguay. Spanish accents vary from region to region. Children are flexible listeners and exposing them to different accents helps them become comfortable with the variation that they will inevitably hear as they interact with Spanish speakers. They will not understand every word of this Spanish video, but you can structure an activity that helps them understand the main idea and also practice listening for specific words. See the activity suggestions below.

Transcript: (The verb form querés, in the first line, is used in parts of South America. It is equivalent to quieres.)
Ya sé Popi, querés (quieres) salir a pasear.
Tener una mascota es muy lindo. Ellas te dan afecto, compañía y son muy divertidas. Pero también son una gran responsabilidad. Popi depende de mí para comer, para bañarse, y hasta para salir a hacer pichí. ¿Saben una cosa? El tiene sus propios juguetes. Cuando llego de la escuela, él siempre me espera con su pelotita para jugar. ¿Verdad, Popi? ¡Popi!

Translation:
I know Popi, you want to go out.
Having a pet is really nice. They give you affection, company, and they are fun. But they are also a big responsibility. Popi depends on me to eat, take a bath, and even to go out to go potty. Do you know something? He has his own toys. When I get home from school he is always waiting with his ball to play. Right, Popi? Popi!

Activities. These are the steps I use with a video like this. The activities are just examples. Modify them to fit your child’s vocabulary.

1. Tell your child that the Spanish video is about having a pet and that the title is Tu responsabilidad. Together, predict what you might hear and see in the video. List some of the words you might hear.

2. Turn down the volume and watch the video with no sound. Pause to name the objects you see and talk about what is happening in simple sentences. You can use simple sentences like these.

Hay un perro. / There is a dog.
El perro tiene una correa. / The dog has a leash.
El perro quiere salir. / The dog wants to go out.
Hay una niña. / There is a girl.
El perro corre. / The dog is running.
La niña le da de comer al perro. / The girl is feeding the dog.
El perro come. / The dog is eating.
La niña sale con el perro. / The girl takes the dog out.
El perro juega con la muñeca. / The dog is playing with a doll.
El perro tiene una pelota. / The dog has ball.

These are some of the objects in the video and in the background of the video that you can point to and name. Use simple verbs like Veo (I see) or Hay (there is).

el perro – dog
la correa – leash
la puerta – door
la cocina – kitchen
la niña – girl
el plato para comida – food dish
comida para perros – dog food
la escoba – broom
el recogedor – dustpan
la esponja – sponge
el agua – water
el árbol – tree
la pelota – ball
la muñeca – doll

3. Turn up the volume. Watch and listen to the Spanish video all the way through together before doing any of the following activities.

4. Listen for specific words.
With children who read in Spanish, give them a list of words in the order they appear in the video. Choose words that are pronounced clearly. Read through the list together first. Then, watch the video. Kids check off the words they can hear. You may want to pause the video and back it up so that children have time to check off a word.

Your list might look like this:
____ mascota
____ lindo
____ compañia
____ divertidas
____ también
____ responsabilidad
____ comer
____ bañarse
____ salir
____ cosa
____ juguetes
____ escuela
____ jugar
____ verdad

For children who do not read, do the activity one word at a time, telling your child what word you are listening for. Say, for example, Vamos a ver si escuchamos la palabra “lindo.” (Let’s listen for the word lindo). Then play the Spanish video until it is past the word by a second or two. Rewind if you need to so your child can listen again. To do the activity this way, choose a few words that are well spaced. For example, you could listen for these words:
lindo
responsabilidad
bañarse
cosa
jugar

5. Comprehension activity. A comprehension activity does not have to be complicated. The real purpose of an activity with a video like this is to repeat the vocabulary and the structures.

Simple questions with choices are one option. With children who do not read, you can do these questions orally.

1. ¿Es la mascota de Catalina un gato o un perro?
2. En el video, ¿Popi quiere salir o quiere dormir?
3. ¿Popi depende de Catalina para comer o para cantar?
4. ¿Catalina usa agua para bañar a Popi o para salir con Popi?
5. ¿Popi tiene sus propios zapatos o sus propios juguetes?
6. ¿Popi tiene una pelota para jugar o una muñeca para jugar?

If you prefer a different format, kids can write the correct word in the blank:

1. La mascota de Catalina es un ____________________.         perro      gato

2. En el video, Popi quiere ____________________.          dormir       salir

3. Popi depende de Catalina para ____________________.         comer     cantar

4. Catalina usa agua para ____________________.          bañar a Popi       salir con Popi

5. Popi tiene sus propios ____________________.          zapatos     juguetes

6. Popi tiene una ____________________ para jugar.      pelota     muñeca

6. Matching. You can make an activity where kids match words to a related object. With children who do not read, you can do this by reading the words aloud.

   comer        jugar       bañarse      salir

7. Personal questions. Ask simple questions related to the Spanish video so that kids can talk about themselves in Spanish. You can ask questions like these.

Questions about pets:
¿Te gustan los perros? / Do you like dogs?
¿Tú tienes una mascota? / Do you have a pet?
¿Cómo se llama tu mascota? / What is your pet’s name?
¿Es grande o es pequeño tu mascota? / Is your pet big or small?
¿Bañas a tu perro ( a tu mascota)? / Do you give your dog (pet) a bath?
¿Sales a pasear con tu perro? / Do you take you dog for walks?
¿Tu mascota come mucho? / Does your pet eat a lot?
¿Tu mascota tiene juguetes? ¿Tiene una pelota? / Does your pet have toys? Does he (she) have a ball?
En tu family, ¿quién cuida a tu mascota? / In your family, who takes care of your pet?

Other questions (not all kids have pets):
Popi come comida para perros. ¿Cuál es tu comida favorita? / Popi eats dog food. What is your favorite food?
¿Te gusta bañarte? / Do you like to take a bath?
¿Tienes juguetes? ¿Tienes una muñeca como Catalina? ¿Tienes una pelota como Popi? / Do you have toys? Do you have a doll like Catalina? Do you have a ball like Popi?
Todos tenemos responsabilidades. En tu casa, ¿ayudas a guardar los juguetes?
¿Ayudas a tu mamá o a tu papá con otras cosas? / We all have responsibilities. At your house, you do help put away toys? Do you help your mom or dad with other things?

You may also be interested in this post about another Spanish video for kids.

I’m in Lima, Peru, enjoying time with my family, so Spanish Playground is going to be quieter than usual for the next couple of weeks.  Here is a post I did last year on the Spanish song for Christmas, or villancico, Noche de paz. It is a great carol for kids learning Spanish.

Language and culture are inseparable. The Catholic church has a strong presence in Spanish-speaking countries, and many traditions center around religious holidays. Through Christmas traditions and songs, children learning Spanish learn language, history, and the values and views that influence Spanish-speaking societies. If your family enjoys Christmas music, carols are an excellent way of exposing children to Spanish.

Noche de paz is the carol known as Silent Night in English. The original carol is in German, and there are several translations and variations in Spanish, just as there are in English. Some versions use more standard Spanish vocabulary and syntax, and those are a good choice for Spanish language learners. The versions below are all sung done by popular artists. The first is by a group from Spain, La Oreja de Van Gogh. The second is by the Mexican singer Luis Miguel. Both of these versions use common Spanish words.

The final video is one of the more traditional versions of the carol sung by Laura Pausini. She is an Italian artist who is also sings in Spanish and is very popular in the Spanish-speaking world.

The words and a translation follow the videos. The translations are not literary translations. They are word-for-word translations, for meaning only, and I include them here for those learning Spanish.

Noche de paz, noche de amor / Night of peace, night of love
Clara estrella brilla ya / Clear star shining now
Y los ángeles cantando están / and the angles are singing
«Gloria a Dios, gloria al rey celestial» / “Glory to God, Glory to the celestial king”
Duerme el niño Jesús / The baby Jesus is sleeping
Duerme el niño Jesús / The baby Jesus is sleeping

Noche de paz, noche de amor / Night of peace, night of love
Todo duerme alrededor. / Everything is sleeping all around
Sólo velan en la oscuridad / Only keeping watch in the darkness
Los pastores que en el campo están / are the shepards in the fields
Y la estrella en Belén / and the star in Bethlehem
Y la estrella en Belén / and the star in Bethlehem

Noche de paz, noche de amor / Night of peace, night of love
Nueva luz celestial. / New celestial light
Floreció la feliz Navidad /Christmas joy arrived
Es palabra y mensaje de paz / It is a promise and message of peace
Duerme el niño Jesús / The baby Jesus is sleeping
Duerme el niño Jesús / The baby Jesus is sleeping

Noche de paz, noche de amor, / Night of peace, night of love
todo duerme alrededor. / everything is sleeping all around.
Todo el mundo celebra con fe / The whole world celebrates with faith
a ese niño nacido en Belén, / the child born in Bethlehem
con canciones del corazón. / with heartfelt songs.
Hoy ha nacido el amor. / Today love is born.

Noche de paz, noche de amor, / Night of peace, night of love
todo duerme alrededor, / everything is sleeping all around
y los ángeles quieren cantar, / and the angles want to sing
para no despertar al Señor. / so as not to awaken the Lord.
Todo es paz y oscuridad. / All is peace and darkness.
Hoy ha nacido el amor. / Today love is born.

Noche de paz, noche de amor, / Night of peace, night of love
todo duerme alrededor, / Everything is sleeping all around
y los ángeles quieren cantar, / and the angles want to sing
para no despertar al Señor. / so as not to awaken the Lord.
Todo es paz y oscuridad. / All is peace and darkness.
Hoy ha nacido el amor. / Today love is born.

Noche de paz, noche de amor, / Night of peace, night of love
todo duerme alrededor. / Everything is sleeping all around.
Todo el mundo celebra con fe / The whole world celebrates with faith
a ese niño nacido en Belén / the child born in Bethlehem
con canciones del corazón. / with heartfelt songs.
Hoy ha vencido el amor. / Today love has won.

Noche de paz, noche de amor, / Night of peace, night of love
Todo duerme en derredor. / Everything is sleeping all around
Entre los astros que esparcen su luz / Among the stars that scatter their light
Bella, anunciando al niñito Jesús. / Beautiful, anouncing the baby Jesus,
Brilla la estrella de paz, / Shines the star of peace,
Brilla la estrella de paz. / Shines the star of peace.

Noche de paz, noche de amor / Night of peace, night of love
Todo duerme en derredor. / Everything is sleeping all around
Sólo velan en la oscuridad / Only keeping watch in the darkness
Los pastores que en el campo están / are the shepards in the fields
Y la estrella de Belén / and the star of Bethlehem
Y la estrella de Belén / and the star of Bethlehem

The new Whistlefritz DVD is a wonderful language learning experience and so much fun! La fiesta de Fritzi, Fritzi’s party, introduces children ages 2-7 to Spanish. The DVD combines live action with animation to immerse children in the language. I will mention a few of the features I love on this DVD. You can read more about why the Whistlefritz approach to language learning so effective in this article about their DVD Las estaciones.

On the Whistlefritz website you can find all their Spanish CDs and Spanish DVDs for kids.  They have offered a 25% discount on La fiesta de Fritzi to Spanish Playground readers until Dec. 21. Just use the code “FritziParty.”

The producers of La Fiesta de Fritzi are experts on making high-quality Spanish language materials. This DVD has masterful pacing and wonderful content. These are just a few of the features that make it work:

- Amazing clear, standard Spanish. This might be the clearest Spanish ever spoken. No doubt the context and the repetition help children understand, but the Spanish itself is also incredibly clear. It is slower than most speech, yet has a perfectly natural rhythm. You and your child will be able to repeat every sound on this DVD.

- Length. The DVD is 30 minutes long and leaves children (and adults) wanting more. Kids will not be bored. On the contrary, this is a DVD they will watch over and over.

- Carefully selected content. There is a ton of Spanish on this DVD, and it is all representative and related. La fiesta de Fritzi exposes kids to basic structures and vocabulary including colors, household words, toys, and words for a table setting. It also provides natural, appropriate exposure to other structures like the future tense.

- Repetition. It is impossible to stress how important it is for children to hear the same phrases again and again in a context that makes the meaning clear. La fiesta de Fritzi is carefully structured to provide lots of repetition, both within individual scenes and throughout the DVD as a whole. Parents and teachers can make the most of this by reinforcing the key sentences in daily routines. ¿Qué más necesitamos? (What else do we need?), for example, is a sentence that is repeated very effectively on the DVD. We can say this every time we set the table for dinner! Likewise, the structure of the sentence Hay juguetes en el piso (There are toys on the floor.) is used repeatedly in the video and can easily be applied to many situations every day.

- Language in a supporting role. Often, the best language-learning experiences happen when children’s attention is not on the language itself, but shifted slightly. For example, on this DVD there is a wonderful animated scene in which a fox gathers different colored balloons. The antics of the fox and the balloons are very funny and completely engaging. Each time a new balloon is added, all the color words are repeated, but the repetition of the words is not the focus of the scene or of children’s attention. This kind of carefully structured implicit learning is very effective.

- María. María is the friend and teacher in this DVD. Her wonderfully expressive voice makes Spanish easy to understand. I am also so impressed by her use of gestures! The first time she makes a gesture, for comer (to eat) for example, it is clear and obvious. As she continues to use the word, the gesture is more subtle. Children will not even notice that she is using certain gestures, but they greatly help kids’ understanding and learning of the language.

- Jorge Anaya. In addition to singing all of the fun songs on La fiesta de Fritzi, this wonderful musician makes an appearance to perform Las mañanitas as a birthday serenade. The song is an excellent cultural element to include and this version is lovely. My only disappointment was that he did not sing all the verses (it is a very, very long song), and instead stopped with an appropriate number of lines for children learning Spanish.

- Everybody is so happy!  La Fiesta de Fritzi just makes you feel good about the day. The smiles and laughs are contagious. Watching, I was reminded that speaking Spanish really is one of the most fun things anyone can do!

Disclosure: The company sent me a copy of the DVD to write this article. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

Spanish Together has a wonderful free video about a snowman that is perfect for using with beginning Spanish learners this time of year. Un muñeco de nieve begins by asking ¿Qué es? and then adds the parts to the snowman one by one using tiene (he has): tiene dos ojos, tiene una nariz, tiene una boca, etc. When the snowman is complete with buttons, hat, and scarf, kids get the answer ¡es un muñeco de nieve! (It’s a snowman!).

In addition to the video on YouTube, the audio is available to download from the Spanish Together CD We love Spanish on cdbaby or itunes. This CD has lots of fun music that teaches children Spanish, and Un muñeco de nieve makes a great listening activity for beginning learners. You can use it in combination with the video to provide lots of repetition and exposure to native-speaker Spanish.

Just watching the video and listening kids are learning Spanish. If  you want to give engage your child more actively with the language, try the following steps. You do not have to do them all at once. A little at a time is great!  If your child gets tired or is distracted, do more on another day. Just begin by watching the video together each time. The entire video/audio is 30 seconds long.

1. View the video together just listening and watching. Spanish video – Un muñeco de nieve

2. Draw a picture of a snowman with your child. You should each draw one. Use the sentences from the video (like Tiene dos ojos.) and point at the picture you are drawing. Point to your child’s picture too, and use the sentences from the video. It does not matter in what order you draw the snowmen, but include all the parts in the video (dos ojos, una nariz, una boca, dos manos, tres botones, una bufanda, un sombrero). Your child does not have to repeat the words, she is learning by listening.

3. Watch the video again. Point to the parts of the snowman that you drew when you hear them and see them. Pause the video to give your child time to point.

4. Download the audio for Un muñeco de nieve from iTunes or cdbaby. Listen to the audio once through together.

5. Listen again and as you hear each word point to that part on the snowman you made. Pause the audio to give your child time to point.

6. Use construction paper (or other materials) to assemble a snowman as you listen to the audio again. Listen to the first step and then pause it as you put on the eyes. Start the audio over and listen to ¿Qué es? Tiene dos ojos, tiene una nariz. Pause the video again. Each time, start the audio over from the beginning so that your child hears what she has done and can listen for what comes next.

7. Reinforce the sentences from the video in other situations. Use them by:
- building a real snowman.
- pointing to pictures of snowmen in picture books and ornaments and decorations.
- pointing to pictures of people dressed for winter in books and catalogs.
- talking about people you see outside (pointing is not polite)

8. With almost all these steps, you can also point to your child and use the verb tienes (you have): Tienes dos ojos. Tienes una nariz. Do this starting with step 2, when you are drawing the snowmen together.

Learning Spanish takes lots of repetition of natural language in contexts that reinforce the meaning of the words. This video and audio are exactly the kind of materials that you can use to help kids learn. You can find another snowman activity here: Learn Spanish with Pictures – A snowman.

This great Christmas video by Mother Goose Club was released today! Navidad, Navidad is to the tune of Jingle Bells and kids will love it. The video is darling and the words are on the screen – a perfect sing-along for any age!

This is the link to the Spanish Christmas song and video. Also, Mother Goose Club is offering a free download of the music from Navidad, Navidad this week only to their friends on FaceBook. If you like their page, it will give you a free download link. You can find their FaceBook page here: Mother Goose Club. This is a great opportunity,  and I am definitely going to download the song. Enjoy this fun music with your Spanish learners!

It is snowed here in Wisconsin, so it is time for a winter song in Spanish. This song is called Nos gusta el invierno, Me gusta el invierno or Invierno, invierno. It has several titles because the first lines vary in different versions. The winter clothes the song mentions vary a little, too. Children in Spanish-speaking countries also learn this song as a poem.

All of these versions have the line Y por la Navidad (because of Christmas). You can change the word Navidad to another -dad word, or any word that ends in a stressed syllable with a as the vowel. Here are some possibilities: y por la majestad, y por la felicidad, y por la festividad, y por la suavidad, y por la preciosidad, y por poderse patinar, y por poderse deslizar.

You can hear Laura from Yo canto y bailo esta canción sing Invierno, invierno, this Spanish song about winter, in this video. As always, many thanks for permission to embed the video!

These are the words to this version:
Invierno, invierno
¿Por qué nos gustará?
Por la nieve blanca
Y por la Navidad.
El frío del invierno
Ya tiene solución:
El gorro, los guantes y la calefacción.

You can hear a preschool class singing another version on the blog Diario de una maestra. Just scroll down to Canción del invierno: Spanish song about winter. Here are the words to that version:

Me gusta el invierno.
No sé porque será.
Por la nieve blanca
O por la Navidad.
El frío del invierno
Tiene una solución:
El gorro, los guantes
Y la calefacción.

There is a slightly different version that begins:
Me gusta el invierno ¿Por qué me gustará? and then mentions los guantes, el abrigo y la calefacción.
You can find that version with a small printable picture of a snowman here: Spanish song about winter.

Finally, there is a version that begins Nos gusta el invierno ¿Por qué nos gustará? and ends el gorro, el abrigo, y la calefacción. You can find that version and several other Spanish poems about winter for kids about on the blog Primer Ciclo. If you keep scrolling down, you will also find a nice collection of paintings of winter. These are wonderful for talking about winter with kids learning Spanish.

I am participating in http://latinaish.com/’s Spanish Friday. Join us! An English translation is included in parenthesis.

En la edición nov-dic de la revista Metal Floss, se publicó una lista de las 25 canciones más poderosas de los últimos 25 años. Es una lista de canciones que “han cambiado de forma fundamental el mundo en que vivimos.” Incluye Gran Vals, por el compositor español Francisco Tárrega, la melodía que Nokia tomó como ringtone y que ahora se escucha aproximadamente 1.8 mil millones de veces el día. También sale The drugs don’t work de Verve – según investigadores la canción más triste del mundo – y Panama de Van Halen, que pusieron a todo volumen hasta que Manuel Noriega se rindió.

[In the Nov-Dec edition, the magazine Metal Floss published a list of the 25 most powerful songs of the last 25 years. It is a list of songs that “have fundamentally altered the world we live in.” It includes Gran Vals, by the Spanish composer Franisco Tárrega, the melody that Nokia took as a ringtone and that is now heard approximately 1.8 billion times a day. It also includes The Drugs Don’t Work by Verve, according to scientific research the saddest song in the world, and Panama by Van Halen, the song they blasted at Manuel Noriega until he surrendered.]

La canción que escogieron como #1, la canción más poderosa de los últimos 25 años, es una canción que los de la revista identifican como la que “hace temblar a los malos” porque la ponían en Guantanamo para hacer hablar a los presuntos terroristas.

[The song they chose as #1, the most powerful song of the last 25 years, is a song that the magazine identifies as one that “makes bad guys tremble” because they played it at Guantanamo to make the alleged terrorists talk.]

¡Qué sorpresa darme cuenta de que es una canción que aprendieron mis hijos de chiquitos en español – la canción del dinosaurio Barney! La verdad, estoy segura que la canción es tan eficaz en español como en inglés, porque recuerdo que me volvía loca. Por si acaso no la conozcan, aquí les pongo la versión en español de la canción más poderosa de los últimos 25 años.

[What a surprise to realize that it is a song that my children learned in Spanish when they were little - the Barney the Dinosaur song! Actually, I’m sure that the song is as effective in Spanish as it is in English, because I remember that it drove me crazy. Just in case you do not know it, here is the Spanish version of the most powerful song of the last 25 years.]